Maltese cross (symbol)

Maltese cross

The Maltese cross is an eight-pointed cross used by the once powerful knightly order of the Hospitallers (Johannites - members of the Catholic Church of the Knights of St. John, founded in the 11th century in Palestine ). The symbol comes from the coat of arms of the Italian city of Amalfi , whose natives were the founders of the Jerusalem hospital, which gave rise to the order.

In the XII century, under the master Raymond de Puy, the order became universal, like the church itself, divided into eight (the universal number of directions of space) “languages” representing the main states of feudal Europe : Auvergne , Provence , France , Aragon , Castile and Portugal , Italy , Bavaria (with the rest of Germany) and England (with Scotland and Ireland). The name "St. Hospitallers John ”the knights preserved, as well as the red mantle with an eight-pointed cross embroidered with white silk - a symbol of chastity and eight knightly virtues. Knightly virtues - faith, mercy, truth, justice, sinlessness, humility, sincerity, patience. Four directions of the cross spoke about the main Christian virtues - prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. The order seal depicted a patient on a bed with the same cross in their heads and a lamp in their legs.

Sometimes called the cross of St. John of Jerusalem, or St. George's Cross. The symbol of the Knights of Malta was the white eight-pointed cross, the eight ends of which denoted the eight knights' covenants. Now this cross is used by the sanitary teams of St. John (England).